PRIOR ART AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE
The typical shoe rack for storing men's and women's shoes in the home is a rack that is laid out on a closet floor and permits storage of the shoes as single rows. An important problem for couples living in cramped living quarters such as studio apartments is efficient use of space available for storing clothes, particularly shoes. The shoe racks that are commonly used often occupy a large amount of floor space in the closet or the corner of the room or under the bed. The occupants in some homes simply deposit their shoes on the closet floor in a disorderly array. The job of selecting or finding the appropriate shoes is tedious and irksome, especially when the man and women of the house are required to keep their shoes in the same closet or area.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,539,052 to Beelock discloses a rack of forms wherein a shoe slips over each form. The rack of this invention occupies appreciably more floor space for a given capacity than the rack of the present invention. The fixed shoe forms attachable to the stand accommodates only a limited range of shoe sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,478,890 to Allsop discloses a shoe rack including an expandable frame for each shoe and mounted on a lazy suzan. The arrangement of this construction does make optimum use of space for the rack compared to the rack of the present invneion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,224 to Rushing discloses a stacking tray display in which each tray is supported on a lowering neighboring tray by four tube legs The construction of this invention enabling the user to stack racks is more expensive than the rack of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,816 to Kline discloses a pair of tubes for supporting shoes and a support that permits distance between the tubes to accommodate various shoe sizes. The adjustment does not provide for simultaneously storing a range of shoe sizes nor does it accommodate variations in style such as the differences between men's and women's shoes.
Styles of men's shoes having broad flat heels are distinctly different from styles of women's shoes which have narrow high heels. None of the disclosures presented above take advantage of these differences to optimize use of the space required for storing both kinds of shoes together.